Permaculture practices raise carbon stocks, lower soil bulk density and increase earthworm abundance, results from a study of farms in Germany and Luxembourg suggest.
A team led by Julius Reiff at iES Landau paired nine farms practising permaculture, which are agriculturally productive systems which mimic natural processes, with local farms practising typical forms of agriculture in central Europe.
Carbon, nutrients, biodiversity boosted
They found that soil carbon stocks were 27% higher on permaculture sites than the local controls, soil bulk density was 20% lower and there were 201% more earthworms, which are a renowned indicator of good soil health. Further, soil nutrients were higher on the permaculture farms, with total nitrogen concentrations 60% higher than control fields and phosphorus and potassium 40% and 123% higher, respectively.
Permaculture is often cited as a potential solution to problems facing farming such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change, but to date, this suggestion had relatively little scientific evidence to back it up. Based on the new findings, Reiff and the team, writing in the journal Nature, noted that permaculture stands “as an effective tool for the redesign of farming systems towards environmental sustainability.”
As well as the capacity to store carbon and retain nutrients in soils, they scientists also saw a major uptick in biodiversity on permaculture sites, compared to the conventional farms. Plant species richness was up 457% compared to the paired sites, with the richness of birds and earthworms up 197% and 77%.
The “missing link” to change practices?
“While there are numerous scientific results on more environmentally friendly practices such as agroforestry, crop-livestock integration, or the promotion of semi-natural habitats, the key capability of permaculture is to select, combine, and arrange precise practices for a specific context of land and farmer to create synergistic, regenerative and resilient agroecosystems,” the scientists explained.
“We see this as the missing link between scientific knowledge and implementation in practice. Therefore, we propose to foster the education of farmers and specialized consultants in permaculture design and related practices.”
Further research on a larger set of permaculture sites should also be carried out, the team noted, looking at issues such as nutrient transfer and the impact on yield.
“We hope that answering these questions can promote wider adoption of permaculture and agroecology, enabling future agriculture to enhance its sustainability,” they added.
